Rodents of Unusual Size: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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{{quote|'''Buttercup''': What about the R.O.U.S.'s?
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Are they so named because they are unusually ''small'', you ask? Heh, heh, heh...
Rats, [[As You Know]], are probably the most formidable and tenacious mammals in existence, being blessed with swift feet, durable incisors, impressive cunning and intelligence, [[Zerg Rush|numbers]], and an all-consuming sense of self-preservation. The only thing they lack, it seems, is [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|physical size and power]].<ref>
Incidentally, if you don't find the regular-sized rats particularly worrisome already, then we hasten to point out that they are also world-class swimmers and can hold their breath more than long enough to reach the other end of the pipe leading to your [[The Can Kicked Him|toilet]]. (Thankfully, ''giant'' rats can rarely fit through the plumbing.)
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* Reepicheep (and the other Talking Mice) from the ''[[Narnia]]'' series, who is described to be two feet tall.
** And he knows no fear.
** The squirrels too. For some reason, all the [[Talking Animal
** Given that even Peter could enter their home with ease, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver must've been quite a bit bigger than normal as well.
* The ''[[Goosebumps]]'' book ''Monster Blood II'' had a 10-foot tall hamster in it.
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** Brutus, while certainly not giant, was described as being rather large as rats go.
* The only non-mutant human creatures seen in the future in ''Mindwarp'' are giant rodents the size of a capybara. It is hinted they are descended from rats.
* The children's novels ''The Castle in the Attic'' and ''The Battle for the Castle'', by Elizabeth Winthrop, are about a kid with a magical miniature castle. Through use of a magic token, he can become small enough to enter the
* Lampshaded in the Russian play "The General Inspector" by Gogol. One character ''dreams'' of two "
* [[Redwall]]: In ''The Long Patrol'', [[Big Bad]] Damug Warfang is a Greatrat, described as twice the size of a normal rat.
* While the titular rodents of Paul Zindel's ''Rats'' are generally of normal size, the book also features the Rat King ([[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|no, not that one]]), which is described as being even bigger than a capybara.
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* Some people think that the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] universe contains the Skaven, three-foot tall ratmen, using giant rats and rat-''ogres'', [[Flat Earth Atheist|but they are of course mad]].
** Or form Middenland, since you know you have been attacked by a ''massive'' army of said three-foot ratmen with [[Schizo-Tech|lazer cannons]]
*** [[Arbitrary Skepticism|Don't be silly, those were just Beastmen. There certainly aren't any giant ra]]-[[Karmic Death|AAAAGH * slumps to ground with glowing green dagger embedded in ribcage*
* The underhive in ''[[Necromunda]]'' (part of the [[Warhammer 40000]] setting) is infested with these. And not just any giant rats - more intelligent, mutated giant rats. Some are spiky, some have two heads, but they all are happy to eat lone humans if they think they can get away with it.
** Of course, humans are more than happy to return the favor. While the uppermost Hive Dwellers might feast on food exported from agri-worlds, the average Underhiver has a distinctly less pleasant variety of foodstuffs to choose between. The most "normal" foods are fungi and edible slime-molds. "Meat" in the Underhive generally comes from rats... or snakes... or spiders... or, really, anything made of meat that fails to climb out of the pot. The nastier folks are even willing to add their fellow man to the list. To say nothing of such delights as "Wild Snake", a popular booze made from a certain species of giant snake.
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** And there's the Rylkar from Version 3.5's Monster Manual V. They're basically a nest of giant, evil rats who are connected via a hive mind to their harridan, the huge, disease and corruption spreading, blind matriarch of the nest.
** The ''[[Spelljammer]]'' supplement for 2nd edition D&D introduces the infamous [[wikipedia:Giant Space Hamster|Giant Space Hamsters]], domesticated and bred by the [[Gadgeteer Genius]] Tinker Gnomes of Krynn, and coming in a wide variety of breeds including the "Miniature Giant Space Hamster", which is identical to an ordinary hamster.
** Previous editions of D&D also included giant beavers, giant porcupines,
** [[VG Cats|Rat flail.]]
*** [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|Rat...]] [[Bleach|MORNING]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|STAR!]]
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* An enemy from ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' is called a Ghoul Rat. It is the size of an Irish Wolfhound.
** There is also a changing breed in the World of Darkness called the Ratkin, that are sometimes born as humans (that have the ratkin genetics) and contract a disease that, should they overcome it, turns them into wererats. They were given the charge by Gaia to help control the human population by eating their food and spreadin disease.
*** These Ratkin can take a talent to be able to transform into a giant rat that can stand approx. 4
* In [[Shadowrun]], devil rats are Awakened rodents the size of a border collie. They're nasty, vicious, disease-carrying, and (for some reason) bald all over.
* The [[New World of Darkness]] has Beshilu, one of the two iconic races of the bizarre half-spirit Hosts (the other being the [[Giant Spider|Azlu]]). Like their cousins, they start off looking like normal rats, but quickly gain size and sentience as they eat real rats and lesser Beshilu. They then gradually gain the ability to [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|control human corpses]] and eventually become humanoid, where they become far more social then other Hosts, froming tribal societies. That wouldn't be so bad-they don't prey on humans all that much-except that they also are driven by instinct to gnaw holes in the barrier between the [[Spirit World]] and the human one, which, given where they live (ie, where normal rats live), quickly becomes a haven for disease-spirits, who of course, [[Captain Obvious|exist to spread disease]]. And like other hosts, killing them simply causes a large one to [[Asteroids Monster|split into a swarm of rats]], with one of the component rats containing his soul-which, if left alone, [[From a Single Cell|will eventually grow back to full size and power]].
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* ''Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords'' has giant rats, scorpions, bats, and wasps. The first two can be captured and ridden, granting the player a different stat bonus and additional spell, depending on which one you choose.
* ''[[Suikoden II]]'' had a giant, mutated Sewer Rat for a boss. Which could attack twice per turn, and hit all of your party with each attack for a ''lot'' of damage. [[Goddamn Bats|Goddamn]] [[Just for Pun|rats.]]
** ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'' had one too. It is unusual, in that it is a normal-sized rat, but your ''party'' has to use the ''Mini'' condition to reach the [[Plot Coupon]] it's guarding. Since the ''Mini'' status effect cuts Defense and Attack to 1, you're basically forced to go at it with a party of [[Squishy Wizard
*** ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' has a similar situation where the party gets shrunk down in a sewer and meets the same itty bitty mice which they can encounter as GIANT KICKBOXING MICE.
* ''[[Shining Force]] 2'' has rat enemies of both varieties as the above examples. On the first battle on the field, the party encounters Huge Rats. Later in the game, the party gets shrunk down as part of the storyline and faces normal-sized rats. Your stats don't suffer the debilitating effects of Mini like in FFIII, but those normal rats are still hella strong. And led by a super-rat named Willard.
** Not to mention Slade the rat thief who started the entire mess in the game by stealing the Jewels of Light and Evil. Including him in the fight with Willard causes instant [[Furry Confusion]] because Slade is anthropomorphic.
* In the "Down the Tubes" and "Tube Race" levels of ''Earthworm Jim'', the only way to get through several corridors full of tiny bruisers who will slam you around and throw you back where you came from is to ride a giant, foe-eating hamster (''"Whoooooooa Nelliiiiiiiie!"'').
* The ''[[Magi Nation]]'' series mostly features decidedly non-real-looking creatures, but the [[
* Mouser from ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Bros 2]]'' is a gigantic bomb throwing killer mouse boss. Who has probably the most ironic kind of name ever for such a creature (considering the word 'mouser' means 'cat which catches mice').
* ''[[EverQuest]]'''s Ratonga are prime examples of what happens when you give a ROUS opposable thumbs and knives. An entire race of automatically Evil aligned ROUSes with a penchant for being thieves and assassins. Throw in Roekillik, their Minime counterpart race, and it seems someone at Sony [[Author Appeal|rather likes this trope]]
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* ''[[Castle of the Winds]]'' has Giant Rat, but it's pitifully weak. No, it's the ''ants'' that new characters should watch out for.
* ''[[Adventure Quest]]'' has BURPS, which stands for "Big Ugly Rat Pests". They're [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]. And every other year there's a war fighting nothing BUT those guys. They also qualify as [[Goddamned Bats]] because they're a pain in the ass to hit, where as the bigger ones deal quite a bit of damage. At higher levels you'll still be fighting the guys, often in groups.
** It gets
* ''[[Parasite Eve]]'' had mutated rodents that tried to kill you. And giant squirrels, too.
* ''Rattus giganteus'' is a common creature in ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]].'' While it's not as big as other examples of this trope (nor as its name would suggest), it occurs in such numbers that [[Goddamn Bats|it's still a hindrance.]]
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* And according to [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/07/discovery-species-papua-new-guinea this article], the largest known rat of unusual size has recently been discovered in a crater in Mt. Bosavi.
** And it's completely docile, too.
* Prehistoric rodents could get absolutely gigantic: ''Neochoerus pinckneyi'' is a Capybara 40% larger than its modern cousin (200-
* The rodent ''taxon'' is of unusual size, as it contains more than 40% of all mammal species.
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